European markets are set to open with mixed sentiment ahead of the U.K. fiscal statement and the release of crucial Eurozone inflation data.

As political tensions over a missile strike on Poland subsided ahead of the most recent U.K. fiscal statement and the release of crucial Eurozone inflation data, European stock markets are set to open with a mixed sentiment on Thursday.

Around 7:00 GMT, Germany's DAX futures contract rose 0.4%, France's CAC 40 futures rose 0.2%, and the UK's FTSE 100 futures contract declined 0.1%.

Uncertainty remained regarding the circumstances surrounding the missile blast that struck a Polish village near the Ukrainian border late on Tuesday, but NATO officials appear to have absolved Russia of any immediate responsibility, allaying concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine might spread to the Western alliance's territory.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has disputed this summary, but it is obvious that Moscow is not being blamed for this incident.

In other news, the UK Chancellor's Autumn Statement is expected to draw a lot of attention later in the session as the government attempts to close a sizable fiscal 'black hole' that was only made worse by Downing Street's most recent attempt at a mini-budget. The statement is expected to include significant tax increases and spending reductions.

The upcoming announcement of the CPI number for the Eurozone for October, which is anticipated to be confirmed at an annual growth of 10.7%, up 1.5% on the month, will be the focus of the economic data schedule in Europe in today’s session.

Oil prices dropped early Thursday as geopolitical worries subsided following NATO officials' exclusion of Russia from responsibility for the missile attack on Poland, allaying concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would escalate.

The largest oil consumer in the world, the United States, saw its crude stocks decline by 5.4 million barrels last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. This data largely matched that of the industry trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, the day before.

However, the situation is cloudy because gasoline and distillate fuel supplies both increased more than anticipated.

Key Events:

• Eurozone CPI (YoY) (Oct) at 10:00 GMT.
• UK’s Autumn Forecast Statement at 12:30 GMT.
• US Building Permits (Oct) at 13:30 GMT.
• US initial Jobs Claims at 13:30 GMT.

Earnings:

• Alibaba
• NetEase
• Applied Materials
• Siemens

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)